Method of packaging T-shirts

ABSTRACT

A method of packaging three T-shirts in a single container involving laying out two of the shirts flat and in registry, folding the bottom part of a third shirt upon itself, and placing the three shirts in superposed relation so that the collar of the third shirt faces in a direction opposite the one in which the collars of the other two shirts face. A stiffener board is placed against the central part of the third shirt, and the shirts are folded around the edges of the stiffener board after which they are inserted as a unit into a container.

United States Patent Sylvester June 3, 1975 [54] METHOD OF PACKAGING T-SHIRTS 3,167,223 l/l965 Weiss 223/37 [75] Inventor. JNOIIYB D. Sylvester, Garden City. Primary Examiner Travis S. McGehee Assistant Examiner-Horace M. Culver [73] Assignee: Amscomatic lnc., Long island City, Attorney, Agent, or FirmAlan H. Levine; Breitenfeld N.Y. & Levine [22] Filed. Aug. 9, 1974 [57] ABSTRACT [21] Appl' N 495988 A method of packaging three T-shirts in a single con tainer involving laying out two of the shirts flat and in 52 us. Cl. 53/21 FW registry, folding the bottom P of a third Shirt p 51 int. Cl B65b 63/04 itself, and Placing the three shirts in superposed rela- [58] Field of Search 53/21 FW 1 17 1 16 35; tion so that the collar of the third shirt faces in a di- 223/37 rection opposite the one in which the collars of the other two shirts face. A stiffener board is placed [56] References Cit d against the central part of the third shirt, and the shirts UNITED STATES PATENTS are folded around the edges of the stiffener board 2.152940 4H9 wiegman lllllllllllllllllllll H 53/2] Fw after which they are inserted as a unit Into a container. 2,6l0,77l 9/1952 Calder 223/37 5 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures SHEET PR/Of? ART METHOD OF PACKAGING T-SHIRTS This invention relates to packaging of garments. and more particularly to a method of packaging three T- shirts in a single container.

It is common practice for manufacturers of T-shirts to package them three to a container. the container usually being a plastic bag. Until recently. each of the three shirts was folded individually, one or two of them being folded over a rectangular stiffener board. such as a sheet of cardboard. The three shirts were then inserted into a plastic bag and the bag sealed. Before inserting the shirts into the bag. it was common practice to rotate one shirt I80", so that it faced in a direction opposite to the other two, for the purpose of distributing more evenly the bulk produced by folding of the shirts.

To save on labor and cardboard costs, many manufacturers now lay three unfolded shirts out flat, one on top of the other in registry, and fold all three simultaneously over a single stiffener board. More specifically, three shirts are laid front down and a stiffener board placed in the center of the uppermost shirt. The bottoms of the shirts are then folded over the lower edge of the board and the sides of the shirts folded over the side edges of the board. Finally, the tops of the shirts are folded over the top edge of the board, exposing the front of the collar portion of what was the lowermost shirt. The three folded-together shirts are then inserted into a bag. In many cases, the placement of the stiff ener, folding of the shirts. and insertion into the bag are done by machine.

A problem presented by the shirt-packaging method just described is that the bulk formed by the foldedover sleeves of the three shirts is all located in one place. namely near the folded edge of the package opposite the shirt collars. Furthermore, this maldistribution of bulk problem is aggravated when the shirts being packaged are more than three times the length of the cardboard stiffener. The reason is that the bottom margins of the three shirts extend beyond the top edge of the stiffener when the bottoms of the shirts are folded over the lower edge of the stiffener, and these bottom margins are in alignment with the shirt sleeves which are folded on top of them, thus adding to the bulk at the folded edge of the package opposite the shirt collars. Additionally. the bottom margins are folded upon themselves when the tops of the shirts are folded over the top edge of the stiffener, resulting in added bulk at that same folded edge of the package.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome this problem by providing a T-shirt packaging method involving a special way of arranging and folding three shirts so that the bulk in the package which contains them is more evenly distributed.

It is another object of the invention to provide such a packaging method which can be employed with T- shirt folding and packaging machines, or which alternatively can readily be practiced manually.

Additional objects and features of the invention will be apparent from the following description in which reference is made to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a T-shirt;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a T-shirt with its bottom part folded over on itself;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the T-shirt of FIG. 2 together with two other identical T-shirts to be packaged with it;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the three Tshirts in superposed relation;

FIGS. 5-10 are perspective views of the three T- shirts showing the sequence of further steps of the packaging method;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view ofthe finished package; and

FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view of three T- shirts arranged to be folded according to a conventional packaging method.

In a conventional method of packaging three T-shirts in a single container, the three shirts 15', 16' and 17' are first arranged in superposed relation as shown in FIG. 23. Note that the collars, sleeves, and bodies of all three shirts are in registry. As described above, the shirts are then folded over a cardboard stiffener (not shown in FIG. 12) and inserted into a package.

A packaging method chosen to illustrate the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. l-Il. The three T-shirts to be packaged bear the reference numerals 15, 16, and 17. The shirts themselves are entirely conventional.

One of the shirts, 15, is shown lying front-down in flat condition in FIG. 1. In FIG. 2, the bottom part 18 of shirt 15 is shown folded upon the shirt along a line 19 parallel to the bottom edge 20 of the shirtv Regardless of the original length of shirt 15, it is folded so that the distance from its top edge 21 to fold line 19 is a little less than three times (or at least no more than three times) the length of a stiffener board 22 (see FIG. 6) around which the shirts will be folded. Although in FIG. 2 bottom part 18 is shown folded upon the back of shirt 15, for the purpose of this invention, shirt 15 could be lying on its back and bottom part 18 folded against the front of the shirt.

The other two shirts l6 and 17 are arranged in superposed relation and in registry with each other, as indicated in FIGS. 3 and 4. It is important that the front of the upper shirt 17 be exposed. i.e., face away from shirt 16, since it is the top part and collar of this shirt which will be seen through the transparent plastic bag of the final package. However, shirt 16 can be arranged as shown, with its front against the back of shirt 17, or shirts l6 and 17 could be arranged back-to-back. The three shirts 15-17 are arranged in superposed relation as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. It will be noted that the longitudinal axes of all the shirts are parallel, but the collar 25 of shirt 15 faces in a direction opposite to the direction in which the collars 26 of shirts 16 and 17 face. In addition. fold line 19 ofshirt 15 preferably lies adjacent to the collars 26 and top edges 27 of shirts 16 and 17.

If the shirts are to be folded and packaged by a conventional shirt folding and packaging machine, they would be fed to the machine in the orientation shown in FIG. 4, since the machine provides stiffener boards to the shirts from beneath. However, if the shirts are to be packaged by hand, the arrangement of FIG. 4 is flipped over, i.e.. rotated l about the longitudinal axes of the shirts, to the orientation shown in FIG. 5. It is also more convenient to explain the following steps of the method using the orientation of FIG. 5.

The next step involves placing a stiffener board 22, usually a rectangular sheet of cardboard, upon shirt 15 (see FIG. 6) which is now on top of Shirts 16 and 17.

The size of stiffener 22 may be a standard one which is related to the size of the plastic bag in which the shirts are to be packaged. Although a rectangular stiffener is illustrated, the stiffener could have any desired shape. Stiffener 22 is centered with respect to the sides of the shirts, and is spaced from the top edges 27 of shirts l6 and 17 a distance about equal to the length of the stiffener.

As shown in FIG. 7, the bottom parts 30 of shirts l6 and 17 are folded around the bottom edge 31 of stiffener board 22. Where T-shirts of Large" and Extra- Large size are being packaged, the bottom margins adjacent to the bottom edges 33 of shirts l6 and 17 extend past the top edge 32 of stiffener 22 as shown. One side portion of each shirt and the sleeve on that side are then folded over a side edge 34 of stiffener 22, as shown in FIG. 8. Then, the other side portion and sleeve of each shirt are folded over the other side edge 35 of stiffener 22, as shown in FIG. 9. Although the bottom parts 30 of shirts I6 and 17 have been shown and described as being folded over the stiffener first followed by the side portions, the side portions and sleeves could be folded over the stiffener first followed by the bottom parts 30.

The final folding step involves folding the top parts and collars 26 of Shirts 16 and 17 along a fold line 36 over the top edge 32 of stiffener 22 as shown in FIG. 10. The three folded-together shirts are then inserted into a container 37, usually a clear plastic bag, which is then sealed, such as by a conventional heat seal, to form the finished package 38 (FIG. 11).

In the finished package 38, there will be some bulk along the fold line 36 because the sleeves of shirts l6 and 17 are folded over in this area, as are the margins adjacent to the bottom edges 33 of those shirts. How ever, the bulk resulting from folding is more evenly distributed with respect to conventional packages because the sleeves of shirt are out of registry with the sleeves of the other shirts. Also, the relatively wide folded-over bottom part 18 of shirt 15 helps to distribute the bulk. As a result, the final package 38 of the present invention is of much more even thickness than conventional packages, and hence can be stacked more uniformly.

In the description above and the drawings, the two Shirts 16 and 17 arranged in registry are placed against each other with shirt 15 against one face of shirt )6.

However. if desired, shirt 15. the bottom part of which is folded upon itself, could be arranged between shirts l6 and I7.

The invention has been shown and described in preferred form only, and by way of example. and many variations may be made in the invention which will still be comprised within its spirit. It is understood, therefore, that the invention is not limited to any specific form or embodiment except insofar as such limitations are included in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A method of packaging three T-shirts in a single container comprising the steps of:

a. laying out a first and a second of the shirts superposed in flat condition and in registry, the front of the first shirt facing away from the second shirt,

b. folding the bottom part of a third shirt upon itself along a line parallel to the bottom edge of the shirt,

c. placing the three shirts in superposed relation with the longitudinal axes of all the shirts parallel, the third shirt being against the second shirt and the fold line of the third shirt being adjacent to the collar of the second shirt,

d. placing a stiffener board against the exposed face of the shirt farthest from the first shirt,

e. folding over the stiffener board the bottoms of the first and second shirts, the top of the third shirt, and the sides of all the shirts,

f. then folding the tops of the first and second shirts and the bottom of the third shirt over the stiffener board, and

g. inserting the folded shirts as a unit into a container.

2. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein the stiffener board is less than one-third the length of each of the shirts, and the third shirt after folding step (b) has a length less than three times the length of the stiffener board.

3. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein during step (c) the folded bottom margin of the third shirt is arranged between the rest of the third shirt and the second shirt.

4. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein the second shirt is between the first and third shirts.

5. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein the third shirt is between the first and second shirts. 

1. A method of packaging three T-shirts in a single container comprising the steps of: a. laying out a first and a second of the shirts superposed in flat condition and in registry, the front of the first shirt facing away from the second shirt, b. folding the bottom part of a third shirt upon itself along a line parallel to the bottom edge of the shirt, c. placing the three shirts in superposed relation with the longitudinal axes of all the shirts parallel, the third shirt being against the second shirt and the fold line of the third shirt being adjacent to the collar of the second shirt, d. placing a stiffener board against the exposed face of the shirt farthest from the first shirt, e. folding over the stiffener board the bottoms of the first and second shirts, the top of the third shirt, and the sides of all the shirts, f. then folding the tops of the first and second shirts and the bottom of the third shirt over the stiffener board, and g. inserting the folded shirts as a unit into a container.
 1. A method of packaging three T-shirts in a single container comprising the steps of: a. laying out a first and a second of the shirts superposed in flat condition and in registry, the front of the first shirt facing away from the second shirt, b. folding the bottom part of a third shirt upon itself along a line parallel to the bottom edge of the shirt, c. placing the three shirts in superposed relation with the longitudinal axes of all the shirts parallel, the third shirt being against the second shirt and the fold line of the third shirt being adjacent to the collar of the second shirt, d. placing a stiffener board against the exposed face of the shirt farthest from the first shirt, e. folding over the stiffener board the bottoms of the first and second shirts, the top of the third shirt, and the sides of all the shirts, f. then folding the tops of the first and second shirts and the bottom of the third shirt over the stiffener board, and g. inserting the folded shirts as a unit into a container.
 2. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein the stiffener board is less thAn one-third the length of each of the shirts, and the third shirt after folding step (b) has a length less than three times the length of the stiffener board.
 3. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein during step (c) the folded bottom margin of the third shirt is arranged between the rest of the third shirt and the second shirt.
 4. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein the second shirt is between the first and third shirts. 